Bank of America Corp DE Sells 85,108 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,141,819 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 85,108 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.00% of Ares Management worth $556,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $126,622,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,498,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $160.87 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $50.74 billion, a PE ratio of 79.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $914.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.

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